The last few days I have been thinking A LOT about the whole faith vs. fear argument/debate again. This is nothing new for me. Most days it is a constant internal debate going on in my head...the one side debating "Just do it. or Just trust me." Or whatever the situation is. Then the other side chimes in "You can't do that; or what if this happens; or what if you get hurt; or whatever." It is constantly there in my life in some form. Part of this most recent reflection is due to recent conversations that I have had while running with one of my friends, but mostly this battle is just so ingrained into my system, that it is just life.
Anyway, I must have been needing uplifting and encouraging reminders again because our ward bulletin at church yesterday had a very good quote on this topic. Then last night, a friend posted a Mormon Message on Facebook that really touched me.
To begin, I am going to type a couple quotes that I KNOW I have shared before, but I am just keeping my "list" updated and current.
The first is one I do not know who it is by. "Fear is one of the most powerful and common human emotions. But it is the opposite of faith. Faith in Jesus Christ gives us strength to face and conquer the challenges life brings. Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him...Knowing that even though you do not understand all things, He does."
The next is by President Gordon B. Hinkley: "In my 90 plus years, I have learned a secret. I have learned that when good mean and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly things always work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out."
The next one is the one from church yesterday. It is by Elder Rex D. Pinegar: " Do not fear the challenges of life, but approach them patiently, with faith in God. He will reward your faith with power not only to endure, but also to overcome hardships, disappointments, trials, and struggles of daily living. Through diligently striving to live the law of God and with faith in Him, we will not be diverted from our eternal course either by the ways or the praise of the world."
Finally, the Mormon Message video that my friend shared. I had seen clips and portions of this particular video before, but either I have not seen the entire video or I just was never "tuned in" enough to catch the quote by Elder Jeffery Holland at the very end. Here is the link to the video. It is a very inspirational video about a husband and a wife that survived a plane crash. She was badly badly burned and has had to rethink and relearn the way she does most daily activities in the caring of her children. If you have time, watch the entire 8 minute video. If not, the above statements is the basic overview/summary of the video. At the very end, Elder Holland comes on with the following quote. I looked it up online, and I am typing more than what is stated in the video.
Elder Holland says, "Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us. ...We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray, and plead with heaven even if we feel for a time out prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard, and when we weep, He and the angels of heaven weep with us. ...
(From the video now.) "When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we have ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple. Regarding our Earthly journey, the Lord has promised, 'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.' (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88)
"That is an everlasting declaration of God's love and care for us, including-and perhaps especially-in times of trouble." (Taken from "Lessons from Liberty Jail," September 2009 Ensign-great talk, by the way...another recommended read)
I have just loved these quotes and I continually finding myself repeating them or portions of them throughout my day.
So, food for your thoughts. :)
Monday, August 27, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Happy Birthday Mom
On August 24, 1957, the world was blessed with the presence of this wonderful, caring individual, Connie Sue Rupp Haas. Yes, I am biased. She IS mom...BUT I am to think that she is a pretty fantastic and incredibly talented individual. I always try to do a post to honor her on her birthday. That being said, I do not know if there is that much that I can say today, right now, that I have not said in previous years and posts. I just LOVE her. Sure, we had our parent/child disputes and disagreements, but she honestly was one of my best friends. Everything I am, everything I do, everything I hope to do, and everything I have accomplished can in some form be attributed to this wonderful lady. Though I am grateful for the lessons that I did learn from her while she lived, I do wish I would have paid more attention and learned so much more from her.
My mom taught me that you can have faith and believe how and what you want to believe without "soap boxing." She had an incredible and beautiful testimony of the Gospel and the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She loved to serve and give back to her community and church. She knew how to work and instilled the importance of hard work into me. Whatever hobby or talent she had, she willingly and lovingly shared with me to teach me-and she did so without pushing me into something that I did not want to do. Her purpose was to teach and expand my backgrounds.
On this day, I had the privilege to go to the Idaho Falls Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was purely coincidence that I was able to attend on my mom's birthday, but it truly was an honor. I can not adequately, properly, or appropriately express my feelings I had today on a public blog, but I am grateful that I was invited by a dear friend to attend today.
Happy 55th Birthday Mom!
Monday, August 6, 2012
RJ is the BIG 4!!!!!!
Last Friday, I took RJ to the doctor for his routine check up. I love the fact that he is healthy and rarely sick so we can get away with once a year doctor visits.
Our boy is BIG, literally. He weighs 47.4 pounds and is 45.8 inches tall.
He is so funny and we are so blessed and grateful to have him in our lives. He keeps us laughing and on our toes.
Our boy is BIG, literally. He weighs 47.4 pounds and is 45.8 inches tall.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
July 2012-Canon City, CO
Here we arrive in our last significant noteworthy stop of Canon City. Picture overload time.... Actually, I will try to keep it brief. TRY being the key word. Ok, honestly it will not be that bad. In Canon City, CO, we get to visit with my mom's side of the family. This includes anyone from her mom's (the Adams side) AND her dad's (the Rupp side) side of the family that we can see as they all mostly live in that area. Some years, this is like 4 people and other years it is like 50 plus people.
We were officially in Colorado for RJ's real birthday, which by now was his 3rd 4th birthday, and his great grandma Rupp and great Aunt Charli pulled out all the stops for this 4 year old. There is a scenic railway that runs from Canon City through the Royal Gorge. I have been on it before and though it is beautiful, it is not too exciting for me. However, they purchased us all tickets for an afternoon ride on this train. By now, we ALL know how much RJ loves trains. Needless to say, we had a very VERY excited boy on our hands. The pictures below are of him with his ticket, with the conductor, with his daddy, and then out on the flatbed with his grandmother and aunt. It was a very enjoyable birthday for the boy. Afterwards, we went downtown to a local pizza parlor and ate pizza for his birthday.
My grandma has these very old slot machines in her house. RJ loves to play "money" with them. In this picture below he had just won on the dime machine. I have to say, my son is very VERY lucky when it comes to antique slot machines. He won so many times! He even had enough money left over to bring home to his piggy bank.
We were officially in Colorado for RJ's real birthday, which by now was his 3rd 4th birthday, and his great grandma Rupp and great Aunt Charli pulled out all the stops for this 4 year old. There is a scenic railway that runs from Canon City through the Royal Gorge. I have been on it before and though it is beautiful, it is not too exciting for me. However, they purchased us all tickets for an afternoon ride on this train. By now, we ALL know how much RJ loves trains. Needless to say, we had a very VERY excited boy on our hands. The pictures below are of him with his ticket, with the conductor, with his daddy, and then out on the flatbed with his grandmother and aunt. It was a very enjoyable birthday for the boy. Afterwards, we went downtown to a local pizza parlor and ate pizza for his birthday.
The next day, Wednesday, July 25, we had RJ's official 4th birthday party. Below is the Thomas the Train cake my aunt and I made. We had a train cake pan that was NOT Thomas "brand" and so we just converted it to a Thomas. RJ was happy regardless. We invited all the "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins" from both the Rupp side and the Adams side of the family. We were hoping that some of the kids would be able to come so RJ would have friends, and he did! I am not posting nearly all the pictures. Below, there is a picture with all the balloons tied to the fence. First, I have to say, that I think that it is incredibly cool that my grandma found Thomas balloons. Anyway, RJ (at grandma's request) was forced to take a picture with each "family" that came. It is good for record purposes, but I have not included those here.
Again, this a picture of another wonderful lady that I greatly admire. She has lived through so much with the depression and having 7 siblings. She has experienced a ton of loss in her family...her husband, her parents, most her siblings, her daughter, 2 grandsons, 1 great-grandson, friends, etc. She has such a great optimistic attitude and always strives to not be down. The hair rollers in her hair are classic grandma. I don't remember a day that she hasn't curled her hair with them. She may kill me if she knows I posted this picture on the Internet though. :) Again, I am very grateful that RJ has gotten to know this wonderful lady and enjoy her company.
July 2012-Lamar, CO
Our next stop was in my hometown, Lamar, CO. Usually this stop would not warrant a post, except for this time we were there 1 1/2 days and actually had things happen that I feel I should post about.
We arrived into town and our first step was Wal-mart. Now, for those not from my town, this may seem odd, BUT for those of us who have left and come back, it is perfectly natural. We stop there first because we have to buy the amount of water we need for the duration of our stay. The tap water there comes out SO white and cloudy that you can not see through the glass. Really gross. Supposedly the restaurants and hotels are filtered...BUT we like to be cautious.
Enough of water. We got to town, bought water and a for sale sign, checked into the motel, went and ate dinner at BJ's (only the best place ever!!!!), then went and posted the sign at our final property in Colorado. By this time it was about 6:30 PM. I took RJ and Dale back to the motel and headed out to the bar...yes, I know..scary... In reality it was my 10 year class reunion and that is where they decided to meet for the first night's events. I had all but talked myself out of going because of the bar, but after the fact, I was so excited that I went. There were so many people there that I hadn't seen since the day I graduated. Some of them that was intentional (stories for another post) and others not so much, but regardless it was fun to talk and catch up. When people started getting drunk, I left and went to the hotel to sleep.
The next day was Saturday. It was a come and go day for me between the class reunion events. I actually kind of felt bad for RJ and Dale. I knew that this portion of the trip would be boring for them. Anyway, I woke up and ran 10 miles in my home town. THAT for me is impressive. When I left home, I could barely run a mile and it definitely was not an enjoyable mile either. I really like that time running and used it to think about my life and the lives of those people I saw the previous night. It was incredible for me to think about those that had changed and those that hadn't changed...and more importantly the events and growth that I have had to pass through personally throughout those 10 years. It was a very enlightening run.
Throughout the day, I came and went with class reunion events. By 11 AM that Saturday morning, we had a cash offer on our property. To some this may seem insignificant, but in this housing market, in my hometown, and considering we had been trying to sale for 2 years, IT is very significant. Flash forward 2 weeks and we are now under signed contract for that offer and are expected to close on August 14. We truly feel blessed. We know that Heavenly Father has been watching out for us and that this sale was supposed to happen right now at this time.
In between my comings and goings, I was able to go to the motel swimming pool with RJ and Dale for some quality family time and a break from the heat. I was proud of RJ. He has been super paranoid the past few years of water. We have had the kiddy pools at home and he would occasionally put his feet in them if we were lucky. So, this was RJ's first "big" pool. He LOVED it. They had these steps leading into it and the shallow end was 3 feet, so he was more than able to stand in it. We had a blast. There was a ball in there so we played catch and just splashed around. Sadly, this is the only picture from the entire Lamar stay.
We arrived into town and our first step was Wal-mart. Now, for those not from my town, this may seem odd, BUT for those of us who have left and come back, it is perfectly natural. We stop there first because we have to buy the amount of water we need for the duration of our stay. The tap water there comes out SO white and cloudy that you can not see through the glass. Really gross. Supposedly the restaurants and hotels are filtered...BUT we like to be cautious.
Enough of water. We got to town, bought water and a for sale sign, checked into the motel, went and ate dinner at BJ's (only the best place ever!!!!), then went and posted the sign at our final property in Colorado. By this time it was about 6:30 PM. I took RJ and Dale back to the motel and headed out to the bar...yes, I know..scary... In reality it was my 10 year class reunion and that is where they decided to meet for the first night's events. I had all but talked myself out of going because of the bar, but after the fact, I was so excited that I went. There were so many people there that I hadn't seen since the day I graduated. Some of them that was intentional (stories for another post) and others not so much, but regardless it was fun to talk and catch up. When people started getting drunk, I left and went to the hotel to sleep.
The next day was Saturday. It was a come and go day for me between the class reunion events. I actually kind of felt bad for RJ and Dale. I knew that this portion of the trip would be boring for them. Anyway, I woke up and ran 10 miles in my home town. THAT for me is impressive. When I left home, I could barely run a mile and it definitely was not an enjoyable mile either. I really like that time running and used it to think about my life and the lives of those people I saw the previous night. It was incredible for me to think about those that had changed and those that hadn't changed...and more importantly the events and growth that I have had to pass through personally throughout those 10 years. It was a very enlightening run.
Throughout the day, I came and went with class reunion events. By 11 AM that Saturday morning, we had a cash offer on our property. To some this may seem insignificant, but in this housing market, in my hometown, and considering we had been trying to sale for 2 years, IT is very significant. Flash forward 2 weeks and we are now under signed contract for that offer and are expected to close on August 14. We truly feel blessed. We know that Heavenly Father has been watching out for us and that this sale was supposed to happen right now at this time.
In between my comings and goings, I was able to go to the motel swimming pool with RJ and Dale for some quality family time and a break from the heat. I was proud of RJ. He has been super paranoid the past few years of water. We have had the kiddy pools at home and he would occasionally put his feet in them if we were lucky. So, this was RJ's first "big" pool. He LOVED it. They had these steps leading into it and the shallow end was 3 feet, so he was more than able to stand in it. We had a blast. There was a ball in there so we played catch and just splashed around. Sadly, this is the only picture from the entire Lamar stay.
The next day, Sunday, I woke up early to go to early morning breakfast with my best friends and "sister" Mary and her dad (my adopted dad). Feel free to judge me for going out on a Sunday if you wish. It was an enjoyable time for us. Though Mary and I have seen each other quite a bit since high school, it is still awesome to be able to spend quality time with her, which was one of the coolest parts of the class reunion for me. After that, we went to church in my home ward and I was able to see the people that were still there from when I was living there. The ward has changed SO much and in some ways, it made me sad that I didn't know that many people and in other ways, I was thrilled that they have so many new members.
From Lamar, we jumped in the car and headed to Canon City.
July 2012-Oklahoma
Our next stop was technically in Salina, KS for the night, but we always just get a hotel room, go out to eat, and then go to bed. So, it is not too exciting while there. The next major stop in our journey is Grove, OK. Here we visit with the Haas side of the family. This is the only time-once a year-that we get to see this part of our amazing family. While we were there, RJ got to celebrate his 2nd 4th birthday party. His great-aunt Karen and I made some super yummy red velvet cake pops and cookie monster cupcakes. RJ LOVED his "cake sucker".
On the Wednesday that we were there, we decided to head up to Springfield, MO to visit Bass Pro Shop. Below is RJ mimicking the bear. It was pretty dang cute. While at Bass Pro Shop, we were able to meet up with some cousins of mom's from the Adams side of the family. Most all the Adams family is in CO, and Susan and her family sometimes get to make the trek. However, this year, they were going to be unable to make their CO trip. I hadn't seen them since 2003. I felt incredibly blessed to be able to visit with them while we walked around the store. After Bass Pro Shop, we headed down to Branson, MO and were able to take RJ to The New Shanghai Circus acrobat show. It was his first ever concert/theatrical/performance experience. We really did not know how he would do, but he did great and liked the "dancers".
Also, while in OK, we spent every morning and evening out on the lake trying to fish. RJ loved this experience...as you can probably tell from his big smiles. In the first picture below, he is reeling in a fish. You can barely see the fish breaking the surface a ways out. However, what I LOVE LOVE LOVE about this picture is RJ's facial expression. It is priceless and I am so thrilled I was able to capture it.
This wonderful lady is my Grandmother Marjorie Haas. She is my father's mother and RJ's great grandmother (obviously). As far as I am aware, she is the last surviving Moffatt on her family line. She has been through so much in her life and I greatly respect her and admire her. More importantly, I am thankful every day that RJ has now gotten to see her and get to know her on these trips over the past 3 years. He loves his great grandmother dearly. Health wise, she has given us some scares over the last couple years, so we are grateful she is still a part of our earthly lives. She now has to use this walker full time for stability purposes. RJ just thought getting "rides" from his great grandma was the coolest thing ever!
July 2012-Wyoming
Our first stop on our family visitation traveling trip (or whatever) was in Cheyenne, WY where we stayed for 2 1/2 days visiting with Dale's parents. I don't have pictures of everything we did, but we went to a couple parks to swing and slide; we went to eat out; we read several books and played games with the family; and most importantly RJ got to celebrate his 1st 4th birthday party. Grandma Walker is a pretty talented artist and cake decorator, and she came up with this awesome Thomas the Train cake for RJ. As you can tell, he was pretty excited about this.
July 2012-camping & 4th
First, I have to say that due to picture overload, I am going to be posting July in portions.
Ok, so I am really really bad and didn't really take any pictures over the 4th of July and the ones I did take did not turn out too well since it was dark and I only had my cell phone camera.
That being said, we had a blast over the 4th. We decided to go camping with the Bagley clan up at their farm/camp. We only went for 3 days and it rained most of one day, but it was fun. We spent our time relaxing around the fire, talking, going for 4-wheeler rides and going shooting. I even got a wonderful 4 mile hilly dirt road run in. It was awesome.
To celebrate the 4th, we headed up to the hill. From there we could see the fireworks display from Menan, Idaho Falls, and several other "neighborhood" shows. Due to the incredibly dry weather and high risk of fires, the kids were not allowed fireworks. Niki had purchased glow sticks from the DollarStore for all the kids. All the kids had a blast with this glow sticks. They were all very entertaining to watch. We had a the radio on and the kids were dancing and singing. RJ, who is not used to being awake past 830 crawled into the truck bed with his blanket and took a nap.
As a whole, our very first family camping trip was very successful. We hope to make it even more of a tradition.
Ok, so I am really really bad and didn't really take any pictures over the 4th of July and the ones I did take did not turn out too well since it was dark and I only had my cell phone camera.
That being said, we had a blast over the 4th. We decided to go camping with the Bagley clan up at their farm/camp. We only went for 3 days and it rained most of one day, but it was fun. We spent our time relaxing around the fire, talking, going for 4-wheeler rides and going shooting. I even got a wonderful 4 mile hilly dirt road run in. It was awesome.
To celebrate the 4th, we headed up to the hill. From there we could see the fireworks display from Menan, Idaho Falls, and several other "neighborhood" shows. Due to the incredibly dry weather and high risk of fires, the kids were not allowed fireworks. Niki had purchased glow sticks from the DollarStore for all the kids. All the kids had a blast with this glow sticks. They were all very entertaining to watch. We had a the radio on and the kids were dancing and singing. RJ, who is not used to being awake past 830 crawled into the truck bed with his blanket and took a nap.
As a whole, our very first family camping trip was very successful. We hope to make it even more of a tradition.
June 2012
Guess what?!?!?!?! It is August!!!!! And I realized that I never updated our lives for June. I am now officially behind for June and July :) Not too shabby!
June was actually a relatively peaceful month. We spent time weeding and watering the garden and cleaning the house. RJ and I made a day trip up to the Bagley's farm/camp one Saturday so we could shoot guns and hang out.
RJ did a lot of backyard "swimming" with the neighbor kids.
For Father's Day weekend, we borrowed a friend's suburban and headed up to Yellowstone National Park for the day with the Bagley clan. It was very enjoyable and lots of fun. It was only Dale's second time every going up there.
June was actually a relatively peaceful month. We spent time weeding and watering the garden and cleaning the house. RJ and I made a day trip up to the Bagley's farm/camp one Saturday so we could shoot guns and hang out.
RJ did a lot of backyard "swimming" with the neighbor kids.
Towards the end of the month, we had the wonderful and blessed opportunity to head out west to MacKay, ID. Our very good long time friends, James and Jodi Bair, were out there visiting family, so we took the chance to go visit them. It was wonderful to get to see them and talk. James' father had made this barrel train for the kids. RJ LOVED it and wanted to keep riding in it all evening. Last summer, RJ finally discovered a love for watermelon. I could NOT resist this picture with the watermelon shoved into his face :) Also, while out there, James showed us around some of the canyons and camping spots. Dale and RJ got to hike up to a cave. I didn't get pictures of this, but the area is GORGEOUS!!!!!
And, that was our June. It doesn't sound like much probably, but we were sure busy and always on the go. We are grateful for good friends that kept us entertained and showed us new places to see.
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